TOWN OF LYME
TOWN OFFICE BUILDING TEAM
September 4, 2007
MINUTES
Present: Don Metz, Frank Bowles, Tish Smith, Carole Bont, Michael Woodard, Simon Carr, Pete Bleyler, Tony Pippin, Patty Jenks
Absent: Freda Swan, Jay Smith
Meeting was called to order at 11:30am. Minutes from meeting held August 29, 2007 were approved as corrected:
--Tish clarified that Frank and Don will check out the Marks’ house on Union Street and
--Nichols was misspelled.
Don reported that he and Frank had made a site visit to the Barrowes property on Pleasant Street. Although the site is acceptable, the buildings would not be usable for our purposes. Frank and Don want to go back and shoot the site with a laser to get a better sense of how a building would lay out. Frank indicated Mr. Barrowes was agreeable to any amenable arrangements necessary to have informed, accurate information to base decisions on.
Mike Woodard made the motion to that Frank Bowles and Don Metz be authorized to organize and oversee the digging of test pits and possible perk tests on the Barrowes site with expenses for same not to exceed $2,000.00.
This motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
Tish would like Mr. Barrowes to agree to hold the property until town meeting. Frank and/or Don will ask him about this.
There was a lengthy discussion about preparing in depth communications for public view and how much information would be beneficial at this time. There were varying opinions about this, but general consensus was that more is better and accurate is best. Frank will work on more detailed specs for the building layout and office staff will be polled again about specific needs for their work area. It was pointed out that these work areas must be job specific, not designed to suit the personalities of those providing input at this time~the logic being that while we want the staff safe and comfortable, the staff will always be changing. It’s the jobs that remain fairly consistent.
Don has spoken to others who responded to the “In-town” properties letter. Those folks included:
--Jeff Marks, who owns property on 13 Union Street. Don and Frank will go to view this property asap.
--Cynthia Bognolo, who has suggested that the Lyme Cash Market Building she now rents out would be suitable for part of the office needs. Her idea is to acquire the accessory buildings situated on the Alden Inn property and use all building as a municipal complex. The problem there is that she doesn’t own the Inn property and neither does the town, so it’s a moot point at this time. Don told her the committee appreciated her input and will consider her suggestions.
--Bob Barnum, who owns a house and small parcel of land on East Thetford Road appreciated being contacted but has no plans to sell the property for a couple of years. He also felt the property was not really appropriate for our needs.
--Scott Nichols, who owns “the Mill property” on Brook Lane offered that site for consideration, but also agreed it might not meet the needs of the town for this purpose.
--Don called the Mathers’ (Tuckaway Timber) to inquire as so whether or not they would agree to have the committee find out about the ability to subdivide the property as is being considered for the Recreate property. The Mathers’ didn’t respond to this particular request, but indicated they might have a buyer.
The committee appreciates that folks have responded to our request for feedback. An acknowledgement letter will be sent to all who responded. Patty will craft the draft & Don will finalize it.
Frank’s Office Liberation letter was discussed. It was found to be humorous and almost ready for public consumption. We’ll talk about this next week.
Don and Frank will meet with the Friends of the Lyme Library on October 8th.
Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday September 11th.
Respectfully submitted~in Freda’s absence,
Patty Jenks
| 
